Pol Espargaró: "I hope to fight with Márquez in the race soon"

The driver from Granollers (Barcelona) had to wait three Grands Prix to share the box with his new teammate, Marc Márquez, after doing it with his substitute and HRC tester, Stefan Bradl, in the double appointment in Qatar . There, Polyccio was the best of the riders of the brand with the golden wing, although far from the results expected of a Repsol Honda member.

He did not do much better last weekend in Portugal either . A hard crash before qualifying sent him down to 14th on the grid, and a rear brake problem forced him out just after the first four laps had been completed.

“We would have liked to be higher up and be able to have a much more complete weekend. Luck has not been on our side, but still, we have to be positive. From now on, more favorable races are coming for both of us and I think we can be much higher up”, says Espargaró in an interview broadcast by Repsol .

“It was a difficult weekend, because it is one of the most difficult tracks in the championship. Arriving at a circuit with these characteristics without being 100% adapted to the bike, in my case, made things quite complicated for me. I had a crash on Saturday before qualifying which put me down quite a bit on the grid and then we had a technical problem during the race. Things are improving, I see where the limits and potential of this bike are.”

In Portugal, the reappearance of Márquez took place and with it the premiere of the couple working on the bike. The #44 admits that his return is essential to redirect a bike that has been quite critical at the start of the season.

“With Marc’s return, we are all more positive since he is the one who has been with this bike the longest and has more experience. I think it is positive for everyone due to a technical issue. There is no one better to develop a bike than the one who has spent more time in it, to know a little about the history, to know its weak and strong points to enhance them, or improve the weak ones. Marc is the person who has practically carried out the entire process in recent years at Honda and technically he is going to solve the problems that we have with much more ease and fluidity than I could do with the little experience I have”, he admits.

However, the presence of the #93 raises the bar, as it did in Portimao being the first of the Honda riders to finish.

“It is clear that the pressure will be a little higher because he is going to set limits that are more difficult to reach, but in the end that is what we riders want: to see ourselves at the limit in order to improve,” he says.

The two Spaniards rolled for moments close, although there has not yet been any real face-to-face.

“I haven’t had the opportunity yet. Yes, we started very close to each other in qualifying, but it was too far away. We have ridden very little and I hope to be together soon, fighting in a race. That’s what my dream would be,” he says.

A duel that we could see in two weekends in Jerez , a somewhat more favorable circuit than Losail and Portimao for the RC213V.

“For us it will be a starting point, because I think that until Jerez all the circuits have not been favorable for us. Stefan Bradl has been shooting a lot. That will make our work much easier if we have problems, we will know which paths to choose without wasting time”, he said about the presence as a wild card of the German tester.

The 29-year-old rider has already suffered the harshness of the Honda, something necessary in his adaptation.

“These crashes teach you the limit of the bike. I’m picking up the pace more and more, I’m more and more competitive in one lap and even though, as I said, I’m not able to complete a full lap without mistakes, I feel we have the speed. I prepared thoroughly for this project. It is true that I come from a factory in which the bike was quite complicated and I also had to be performing at its best and I needed to have a physique according to the bike. I have prepared myself conscientiously and I have arrived, I think, a little above what I needed”, settled.